Railroad tie



Feb.'13, 1923. 1,445,047.

L DSPRATT. v I

RAILROAD TIE.

FILED APR. 10, 1922. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

(M55654 @724672207 14 45 i- 4 4 a pa/r L. D. sPn-Ar'r, or 'cnroaso,

ILLINQIS,

than? r a j ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES earn- SCHLOTFELDT, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOI$.'

narn'aoan TIE.

Application filed April 10, 1922. Serial No. 550,966.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, L. l). Srnar'r, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chi cago, in the county of Cool: and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and use ful Improvements in Railroad Tics, of whichthe following is a description.

My invention relates to improvements in railroad ties, and moreparticularlv to metallic ties adapted to be substituted for the woodenties usually employed. One of the objects of my invention is to providemeans cooperating with my metallic tie for resiliently supporting theloadto permit the vertical movement of the rail, as is provided by theinherent resiliency of wooden ties. Another object of my invention is toprovide a hollow metallic tie having a flanged cover thereon, wherebywater or the like is prevented from working its way into the hol lowinterior of the tie. Another object of my invention is to provide meansfor preventing the spreading of the rails on the tie, said means beingpart of the tie itself. An other object of myinvention is to providemeans for removably securing the cover to the main portion of the tieinsuch a way that said securing meanswill be prevented from accidentallycoming off. The invention has among its other objects the production ofa device of the kind described which is simple, compact, durable,reliable efficient and satisfactory for use wherever found ap plicable.Many other objects and advantages of the construction-herein shown anddescribed will be obvious to those skilled in the art from thedisclosure herein given.

To this end, my invention consists in the novel construction,arrangement and 001m bination of parts herein shown and diescribed, andmore particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, wherein like i-e'im-encc characters indicate like orcorresponding parts, I

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a pair of rails supported by my improvedties;

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken substantially line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section taken substantiallv line of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section taken si'ibstantially line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

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Fig. 6 is a section taken substantially on lme 6-6 of Fig. 2;

F 1g. 7 1s a sect onal detail ofthe means used for securing the cover tothe hollow tie; and Big. 8 is a detail ofa sleeve used in conncctionwith the securing means shown in Fig. 7.

in the drawings wherein I have illu trated the preferred embodiment ofmy in vention, there is shown a pair of rails 1 of any suitable size orshape, said rails having a flanged base 2. The ties each comprise ahollow box structure. 3 which is preferably of elongated shape, as isordinarily used or found satisfactory for ties, and may be made in oneor more parts as desired. .The material used in making the tie may besuch as desired and is preferably'metallic. A cover 1- is adapted toclose the open or top side of the box structure 3, said cover having itsside edges flanged at right angles thereto, as at 5, so as to slidablyengage the vertical walls of the box 3, and thus prevent any liquidsfrom working their way in between the cover and box. At pointsintermediate of the length of the box, there are provided transversepartitions or reinforcing-webs 6, whereby compartments 7 are formed inthe box. K Y

, Carried by the box and projecting into each of the compartments 7, areone or more pins 8 adapted to receive the coil springs 9. thereon andform guides therefor. The free ends'of said pins 8 are provided with an.axialv recess 10 therein to receive the free ends of cooperating guidepins, as will be hereinafter described.

Each of the compartments 7 is arranged immediately below the pointswhere the rails 1 are to be superimposed onthe cover, so that thesprings 9 may resiliently support the load passing over the rails. Thepartitions 6 have recesses 11 formed at their upper edges to receive oneor more leaf springs 12 insertable therein, said leaf springs carryingpins 13 intermediate their ends to engage in the recesses 10 of the pins8, said leaf springs 12 supplementing the actionof the springs 9and'bearing 0n the bottom wall of the box 3 and against the cover plate4. In

place of two springs one wide spring may be employed.

In order to secure the cover to the box, said cover and box are providedwith registering bolt holes therein to receive bolts 14;

suitable intervals on the tie. The bolts are preferably flanged asshown, a sleeve in the form of a resilient locl'c washer being adaptedto encircle each of the bolts l l to abut the box 3 and the head ot thebolt, so that all of the bolts, when tightened, will space the cover andbox a certain distance. The sleeve 15 cider rotation of the bolt in thehole, because the split ends o't said sleeve bite into the material oithe bolt and the box to hold said. parts against relative rotation. Agasket 16 may be intcr 'iosed between the co \e l and the head of thebolt so that when the cover moves upwardly after the load spaced at haspassed, such movement will be noiseless and prevent or injury to theparts. An

additional purpose of the gasket 16 is to prevent moisture from workingits way into the parts.

t is obvious that when the load passes over the tie, the springs S) and12 will permit the moving of the cover toward. the box, and that as soonas the load has moved from the tie, said springs will lift the coverfrom the box to its normal position shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

Clips 16 are used to hold the rail in place on the tie, said clips eachhaving an elongated slot or aperture 17 therethr to slidably receive abolt 18 to be ins rted into a threaded aperture in the tie. in order toprevent the rails from spreading, said cover has a rib 19 projectingupwardly therefrom at each of the rail receiving points, said ribs beingparallel and adapted to bear against the outer side of the rails. Therails will be prevented from moving inwardly toward each other by theflanges oi"? the drivin wheels of the train bearing outwardly thereon.

It will be noted that with my improved. form of tie the spacing betweenthe rails is constantno matter whether the tie is flexed or not, so thatthe rails always act together.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that variousimmaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing fromthe spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to be understood aslimiting myself to the exact form, construction,

low box open at the upper side thereof, a

cover flanged at its edges to it said open side and slidably engage thevertical walls of the box, means for securing a rail to said cover,means for yieldably maintaining said rover against seating on the box,and means tor adjustably securing said box and cover also prevents theac together, said last-mentioned means comprising bolts adapted to beinserted through registering apertures ot the box cover, and meansbetween said bolts and box to limit the insertion of the bolts thereintoand lock them against accidental rotation.

2. In a device of the kind described and in combination, a rail tiecomprising a hollow box open at the upper side thereof, a cover flangedat its edges to fit said open side and slidably engage the verticalwalls of the box, neans for securing a rail to said cover, means :toryieldably maintaining said cover from seating on the box, and means toradjustably and detachably securing said box and cover together, saidlast-mentioned means comprising bolts adapted to be inserted throughregistering apertures of the box cover. and spring lock washersencircling said bolts to abut against said box to limit the insertion ofthe bolts thereinto and locking said bolt and box to prevent accidentalrelative rotation of the bolts.

3. In a device of the hind described and in combination, a rail tiecomprising a hollow box open. at the upper side thereof, a cover flangedat its edges to fit over said open side and slidably engage the verticalwalls of the box, means for securing a rail on said cover, means foryieldably maintaining said cover from seating on the box, saidlast-mentioned means comprising coil springs vertically arranged betweensaid box and cover beneath said rail, leaf springs supplementing saidcoil springs and bearing on said box bottom and cover, and means fordetachably securing said cover and box together to permit separationthereof.

a. In a device of the kind described and in combination, a rail tiecomprising a hollow box open at the upper side thereof, a cover flangedat 'its edges to it over said open side and slidably engage the verticalwalls of the box, means for securing a rail on said cover, means foryieldably maintaining said cover fromv seating on the box, saidlast-mentioned means comprising pins extending upwardly from the bot-tomof the box, coil springs encircling said pins and vertically arrangedbetween said box and cover beneath said rail, leaf springs supplementingsaid coil springs and bearing on said box bottom and cover, pins carriedby said lea-F springs to project into said coil springs and slidableinto said first-mentioned pins, and means fordetachably securing saidcover and box together to permit separation thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo sub-

